JP3119062B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner provided with a dehumidifying module for dehumidifying or humidifying indoor air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an air conditioner capable of dehumidifying and humidifying a room.
Is composed of a container 12 and a number of porous tubes 11 provided in the container 12 to allow the passage of moisture, and are connected to the outdoor moisture absorbing / desorbing section 13 via a medium circulation path 14. A hygroscopic medium 15 such as lithium chloride circulates in the container 12 and the moisture absorbing / desorbing section 13 through a medium circulation path 14. Reference numeral 16 denotes a pump for circulating the hygroscopic medium 15. The moisture absorption / release section 13 has a medium chamber 17 into which the hygroscopic medium 15 flows, and an air chamber 18 disposed adjacent to the medium chamber 17 via a semipermeable membrane 19 that allows the passage of moisture. The air chamber 18 communicates with the atmosphere via a switching valve 20 such as a four-way switching valve.

Next, the operation of the air chamber 18 will be described. First, during the dehumidifying operation, the switching valve 20 is switched, and the pressure in the air chamber 18 of the moisture absorbing / desorbing section 13 is reduced by a pump (not shown). Then, due to the pressure difference between the hygroscopic medium 15 and the air chamber 18, moisture is released from the hygroscopic medium 15 through the semi-permeable membrane 19 into the air chamber 18. At this time, in the dehumidifying module 10 on the indoor unit side, moisture is absorbed from the humid air sucked by the fan into the hygroscopic medium 15 through the porous tube 11, and the dehumidified air is returned to the room.

On the other hand, during the humidifying operation, the switching valve 20 is switched in a direction to increase the pressure in the air chamber 18 by operating a pump (not shown). Then, due to the pressure difference between the hygroscopic medium 15 and the pressure in the air chamber 18, moisture is absorbed into the hygroscopic medium 15 through the semipermeable membrane 19. At this time, in the dehumidifying module 10, moisture is released from the hygroscopic medium 15 to the room air sucked by the fan through the porous tube 11, and the humidified air is returned to the room. Thus, indoor dehumidification and humidification are performed in the dehumidification module 10.

[0005]

FIG. 4A shows the relationship between time and the amount of dehumidification, and FIG. 4B shows the relationship between time and the moisture absorbing medium 1.
5 (c) shows the relationship between the time and the temperature of the hygroscopic medium 15 respectively. As shown in FIG. 4, the dehumidification amount decreases with time because the hygroscopic medium 15
Although the liquid concentration is greatly reduced due to the absorption of moisture, one of the causes is that the liquid temperature increases due to the absorption of moisture and the pressure of the hygroscopic medium 15 increases. As described above, the liquid dehumidifier (the dehumidifying module 10) using the hygroscopic medium 15 using lithium chloride generates heat when absorbing moisture.
However, there is a problem that even if the concentration is the same, the temperature rises, the difference between the water vapor pressure of the air and the pressure of the hygroscopic liquid becomes small, and it becomes difficult to dehumidify.

When the liquid dehumidifier (dehumidification module 10) used in summer is used, the temperature of the blown air during dehumidification also rises with the rise in the temperature of the hygroscopic medium 15, as shown in FIG. Room temperature rises and becomes uncomfortable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of increasing the amount of dehumidification and eliminating discomfort during use in summer. To provide.

[0008]

Therefore, the air conditioner of the present invention comprises a heat exchanger 5 for flowing a cooling medium and a heating medium, a blower 4 for blowing air to the heat exchanger 5, and a hygroscopic medium 15 And a dehumidifying module 10 for dehumidifying and humidifying indoor air is provided in the indoor unit 1, and the heat exchanger 5 is disposed in front of the dehumidifying module 10 when viewed from the air blowing direction . 5 and the dehumidifying module 10
It is characterized by being placed in contact with each other.

[0009]

According to the air conditioner of the first aspect, when a cool refrigerant flows through the heat exchanger 5 in summer, the dehumidification module 10 can be cooled by the wind from the blower 4 via the heat exchanger 5. The temperature rise of the hygroscopic medium 15 of the module 10 can be suppressed. As a result, the amount of dehumidification increases, and the usable concentration range increases. Also with the above air conditioner
Is in thermal contact between the heat exchanger 5 and the dehumidifying module 10.
The heat exchanger 5 allows the dehumidification module 10
Can be reliably cooled. In addition, heating during heating
The efficiency of the moistening action can be improved,
The effect can be more reliably achieved.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a specific embodiment of the air conditioner of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the configuration of the dehumidifying module 10 is the same as that of FIG. 3, and thus the description thereof is omitted, and the gist of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the construction of an indoor unit 1 of an air conditioner according to the present invention. Has been placed. A blower 4 for blowing air to the auxiliary heat exchanger 5 is arranged on the suction port 2 side. Reference numeral 6 denotes a drain pan. The auxiliary heat exchanger 5 is used for assisting the operation of the dehumidifying module 10, and operates as an evaporator or a condenser with a cross fin coil or the like in an operation with an indoor unit (not shown). Things.

At the time of cooling operation, a cool heat medium flows through the auxiliary heat exchanger 5, a high-concentration hygroscopic medium (a hygroscopic liquid such as lithium chloride) flows through the dehumidification module 10, and the air from the blower 4 is cooled by the auxiliary heat exchanger. Heat exchanger 5 is applied to the auxiliary heat exchanger 5
By cooling the dehumidifying module 10 through the, the hygroscopic medium flowing in the dehumidifying module 10 is cooled to suppress a temperature rise. At this time, the auxiliary heat exchanger 5
Temperature is not lowered to the dew point temperature. When the room temperature is 25 ° C. or higher, dehumidification is performed by both the auxiliary heat exchanger 5 and the dehumidification module 10, and when the room temperature is 25 ° C. or lower, the dehumidification module 10 is operated alone.

FIG. 2 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4. The broken line is the case of the conventional example shown in FIG. 4, and the solid line is the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the amount of dehumidification can be increased by cooling the dehumidification module 10 by the auxiliary heat exchanger 5 to which the air is blown by the blower 4 as described above. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the hygroscopic medium is used for the density difference heat storage, cooling the dehumidifying module 10 increases the concentration range of the hygroscopic medium that can be used and increases the heat storage density. Further, as shown in FIG. 2C, the temperature of the dehumidified blown air from the dehumidifying module 10 becomes lower than the room temperature, so that the room temperature does not rise even during the operation in summer, and the user does not feel uncomfortable. During cooling operation, the auxiliary heat exchanger 5 shares only the sensible heat load, and the dehumidifying module 10 shares the latent heat load.
Can be increased, and the efficiency can be improved.

On the other hand, during the heating operation, the dehumidifying module 1
If a low-concentration hygroscopic medium or water such as lithium chloride is allowed to flow to 0 and a warming medium is allowed to flow to the auxiliary heat exchanger 5, the dehumidifying module 10 can be humidified by the warming medium of the auxiliary heat exchanger 5. .

[0015]

According to the air conditioner of the first aspect, when a cold refrigerant flows through the heat exchanger in summer, the dehumidifying module can be cooled by the wind from the blower through the heat exchanger. The temperature rise of the hygroscopic medium can be suppressed. As a result, the amount of dehumidification increases, and the usable concentration range increases. In the above air conditioner, the heat exchanger
The thermal contact between the dehumidifying module and
The exchanger ensures that the dehumidifying module is cooled.
Wear. It also improves the efficiency of humidification during heating
To achieve the above effect more reliably
be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner that performs dehumidification and humidification.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Indoor unit 4 Blower 5 Auxiliary heat exchanger 10 Dehumidification module 15 Hygroscopic medium

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-5-10549 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F24F 3/14 F24F 6/00 321

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heat exchanger (5) for flowing a cooling medium and a heating medium, a blower (4) for blowing air to the heat exchanger (5),
A dehumidifying module (10) for dehumidifying and humidifying indoor air with a hygroscopic medium (15) is provided in the indoor unit (1), and the heat exchanger (5) is viewed from a blowing direction and the dehumidifying module is provided. Place it before (10) , and
The heat exchanger (5) and the dehumidifying module (10) are thermally connected.
An air conditioner, wherein the air conditioner is arranged in contact with the air conditioner.